Electronic Component Package and Method of Housing an Electronic Component

ABSTRACT

An electronic component package includes: an electronic component that includes a body, the body having a first main surface that is convexly curved along a longitudinal direction, and a second main surface that is concavely curved along the longitudinal direction, a distance between the first main surface and the second main surface being 50 μm or less; a housing portion that includes a plurality of recesses, each of the recesses including a take-out opening and housing the electronic component with the first main surface facing toward the take-out opening; and a sealing portion that covers the take-out openings of the plurality of recesses.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119 of JapanesePatent Application No. 2017-017947, filed Feb. 2, 2017, the disclosureof which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to an electronic component package and amethod of housing an electronic component in a package.

In recent years, along with miniaturization of electronic devices, therehave increasingly been demands for reduction in height of multi-layerceramic electronic components used in the electronic devices. Meanwhile,such multi-layer ceramic electronic components have a disadvantage inthat strength is lowered due to the reduction in height.

In this regard, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No.2014-130999 (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Document 1) discloses atechnique of making external electrodes thinner and making a ceramicbody thicker accordingly in order to ensure strength of a multi-layerceramic capacitor whose height is reduced.

SUMMARY

In the multi-layer ceramic capacitor described in Patent Document 1,however, as the ceramic main body becomes thinner, it is more difficultto ensure the strength of the body even when the external electrodes aremade thinner.

For that reason, the multi-layer ceramic capacitor described in PatentDocument 1 may be damaged when the multi-layer ceramic capacitor istaken out of a package by use of a chip mounter or the like and thenmounted onto a substrate or the like in an assembling step of a circuitboard and the like.

In view of the circumstances as described above, it is desirable toprovide a package that houses an electronic component in which both ofreduction in height and ensuring of strength are achieved, and a methodof housing the electronic component in a package.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is providedan electronic component package including an electronic component, ahousing portion, and a sealing portion.

The electronic component includes a body, the body having a first mainsurface that is convexly curved along a longitudinal direction, and asecond main surface that is concavely curved along the longitudinaldirection, a distance between the first main surface and the second mainsurface being 50 μm or less.

The housing portion includes a plurality of recesses, each of therecesses including a take-out opening and housing the electroniccomponent with the first main surface facing toward the take-outopening.

The sealing portion covers the take-out openings of the plurality ofrecesses.

In this configuration, the electronic component is housed in the recesswith the convexly-curved first main surface facing toward the take-outopening. This improves flexural strength of the electronic componentagainst stress applied from the first main surface side, although theelectronic component has a low-profile configuration.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to providean electronic component package that houses an electronic component inwhich both of reduction in height and ensuring of strength are achieved.

The electronic component may include a ceramic electronic component.

The ceramic electronic component may include a multi-layer ceramicelectronic component that is made of insulating ceramics and includes afirst cover and a second cover, the first cover forming the first mainsurface, the second cover forming the second main surface.

An angle formed by tangent lines that are tangent to ends of the firstmain surface in the longitudinal direction may be 170° or more and 176°or less.

The first cover and the second cover may be different from each other inparticle density of the insulating ceramics.

The first cover and the second cover may be different from each other inparticle diameter of the insulating ceramics.

The first cover and the second cover may be different from each other incontent of an additive element therein.

The additive element may be at least one element selected frommagnesium, manganese, aluminum, calcium, vanadium, chromium, zirconium,molybdenum, tungsten, tantalum, niobium, silicon, boron, yttrium,europium, gadolinium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, ytterbium, lithium,potassium, and sodium.

The housing portion may include a carrier tape.

The sealing portion may include a cover tape.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a method of housing an electronic component, the methodincluding: preparing a housing portion that includes a plurality ofrecesses, each of the recesses including a take-out opening; preparing aplurality of electronic components, each of the electronic componentsincluding a body having a first main surface convexly curved along alongitudinal direction and a second main surface concavely curved alongthe longitudinal direction, a distance between the first main surfaceand the second main surface being 50 μm or less; and housing theplurality of electronic components individually in the plurality ofrecesses such that each first main surface faces toward the take-outopening corresponding thereto.

In the housing method described above, the electronic component ishoused in the recess with the convexly-curved first main surface facingtoward the take-out opening. This improves the flexural strength of theelectronic component against stress applied from the first main surfaceside.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when an electroniccomponent including a body whose height is reduced is housed in therecess by the housing method described above, the electronic componentpackage is provided with a configuration to house the electroniccomponent in which both of reduction in height and ensuring of strengthare achieved.

It is possible to provide a package that houses an electronic componentin which both of reduction in height and ensuring of strength areachieved, and a method of housing the electronic component in a package.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent in light of the following detaileddescription of embodiments thereof, as illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a multi-layer ceramic capacitor packageaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the multi-layer ceramic capacitorpackage taken along the A-A′ line in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a multi-layer ceramic capacitoraccording to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the multi-layer ceramic capacitortaken along the B-B′ line in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the multi-layer ceramic capacitortaken along the C-C′ line in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged schematic view of an area E of the multi-layerceramic capacitor package shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a method of producing the multi-layerceramic capacitor;

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing a production process ofthe multi-layer ceramic capacitor;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing the production process of themulti-layer ceramic capacitor;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a measurement apparatus for calculatingflexural strength of samples according to Examples of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 11 is a graph of the flexural strength of the samples.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to the drawings.

In the figures, an X axis, a Y axis, and a Z axis orthogonal to oneanother are shown as appropriate. The X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axisare common in all figures.

1. Configuration of Multi-layer Ceramic Capacitor Package 100

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a multi-layer ceramic capacitor package 100according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is across-sectional view of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor package 100taken along the A-A′ line in FIG. 1. It should be noted that theconfiguration of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor package 100 accordingto this embodiment is not limited to the configuration shown in FIGS. 1and 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, the multi-layer ceramic capacitor package 100 isformed in a long shape.

As shown in FIG. 2, the multi-layer ceramic capacitor package 100includes a housing portion 110, a sealing portion 120, and a multi-layerceramic capacitor 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the housing portion 110includes a plurality of recesses 100 b in a Y-axis direction atpredetermined intervals therebetween.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, each of the recesses 100 b houses themulti-layer ceramic capacitor 10 and includes a take-out opening 100 athrough which the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 is taken out of thehousing portion 110.

The housing portion 110 according to this embodiment is typically acarrier tape, but the housing portion 110 is not limited thereto and maybe a chip tray in which the recesses 100 b each housing the multi-layerceramic capacitor 10 are arranged in a lattice form, or the like.Further, a material forming the housing portion 110 is also notparticularly limited and may be a synthetic resin, paper, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, the sealing portion 120 is laminated on the housingportion 110 and covers the take-out opening 100 a of the recess 100 b ina Z-axis direction. With this configuration, the sealing portion 120seals the recess 100 b in which the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 ishoused. Further, the sealing portion 120 according to this embodiment isconfigured to be capable of being peeled off from the housing portion110 in the Z-axis direction.

The sealing portion 120 according to this embodiment is typically acover tape, but the sealing portion 120 is not limited thereto. Thesealing portion 120 is not particularly limited as long as it is amember that is laminated so as to be capable of being peeled off fromthe housing portion 110 and that has a function of sealing the recess100 b.

Further, a material forming the sealing portion 120 is also notparticularly limited and may be a synthetic resin, paper, and the like.Furthermore, the sealing portion 120 may be made of the same type ofmaterial as the housing portion 110 or may be made of a differentmaterial.

The multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 is housed one by one in each of therecesses 100 b provided in the housing portion 110. Here, in themulti-layer ceramic capacitor package 100 according to this embodiment,as shown in FIG. 2, a convexly-curved surface of the multi-layer ceramiccapacitor 10 faces toward the take-out opening 100 a. The multi-layerceramic capacitor 10 will be described later.

It should be noted that the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 shown inFIG. 2 is illustrated with emphasis on its curved shape for the purposeof description, but in reality the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 isnot curved as extremely as that of FIG. 2. The same holds true for FIGS.4, 6, 9, and 10 to be described later.

2. Configuration of Multi-layer Ceramic Capacitor 10

FIGS. 3 to 5 are views of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 accordingto the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective viewof the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectionalview of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 taken along the B-B′ linein FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the multi-layer ceramiccapacitor 10 taken along the C-C′ line in FIG. 3.

The multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 includes a body 11, a firstexternal electrode 14, and a second external electrode 15.

Typically, the body 11 has main surfaces S1 and S2 oriented in theZ-axis direction and two side surfaces S3 and S4 oriented in the Y-axisdirection. Ridges connecting the respective surfaces of the body 11 arechamfered. It should be noted that the shape of the body 11 is notlimited to the shape as described above.

The first external electrode 14 and the second external electrode 15cover both end surfaces of the body 11 that are oriented in an X-axisdirection, and extend to four surfaces that are connected to both theend surfaces oriented in the X-axis direction. With this configuration,both of the first external electrode 14 and the second externalelectrode 15 have U-shaped cross sections in parallel with an X-Z planeand an X-Y plane.

The total thickness of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10, i.e., adimension D1 in the Z-axis direction (the total of a dimension of thefirst and second external electrodes 14 and 15 in the Z-axis directionon the main surfaces S1 and S2 of the body 11 and a dimension D2 of thebody 11 in the Z-axis direction) is, for example, approximately severaltens of μm, and is desirably 40 μm or less. Further, in this embodiment,the dimension D2 of the body 11 in the Z-axis direction is 50 μm orless, and desirably 30 μm or less.

In this case, an aspect ratio of the body 11 (ratio of the dimension D2to the dimension of the body 11 in the X-axis direction) is desirablyset to 0.2 or less.

The body 11 includes a capacitance forming unit 18, a first cover 19 a,and a second cover 19 b.

The body 11 has a configuration in which a plurality of ceramic layersare laminated in the Z-axis direction.

The capacitance forming unit 18 includes a plurality of first internalelectrodes 12 and a plurality of second internal electrodes 13. Thefirst internal electrodes 12 and the second internal electrodes 13 arealternately disposed between the ceramic layers along the Z-axisdirection. The first internal electrodes 12 are connected to the firstexternal electrode 14 and are insulated from the second externalelectrode 15. The second internal electrodes 13 are connected to thesecond external electrode 15 and are insulated from the first externalelectrode 14.

The first internal electrodes 12 and the second internal electrodes 13are each made of an electrical conductive material and function asinternal electrodes of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10. Examples ofthe electrical conductive material include a metal material containingnickel (Ni), copper (Cu), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), silver (Ag),gold (Au), or an alloy of them. Typically, a metal material mainlycontaining nickel (Ni) is employed.

The capacitance forming unit 18 is made of ceramics. In the capacitanceforming unit 18, in order to increase capacitances of the ceramic layersprovided between the first internal electrodes 12 and the secondinternal electrodes 13, a material having a high dielectric constant isused as a material forming the ceramic layers. For the capacitanceforming unit 18, for example, polycrystal of a barium titanate (BaTiO₃)based material, i.e., polycrystal having a Perovskite structurecontaining barium (Ba) and titanium (Ti) can be used.

Alternatively, the capacitance forming unit 18 may be made ofpolycrystal of a strontium titanate (SrTiO₃) based material, a calciumtitanate (CaTiO₃) based material, a magnesium titanate (MgTiO₃) basedmaterial, a calcium zirconate (CaZrO₃) based material, a calciumzirconate titanate (Ca(Zr,Ti)O₃) based material, a barium zirconate(BaZrO₃) based material, a titanium oxide (TiO₂) based material, or thelike.

The first cover 19 a and the second cover 19 b respectively cover theupper surface and the lower surface of the capacitance forming unit 18in the Z-axis direction. Further, the first cover 19 a has the mainsurface S1, and the second cover 19 b has the main surface S2. The firstcover 19 a and the second cover 19 b are not provided with the firstinternal electrodes 12 and the second internal electrodes 13.

The first cover 19 a and the second cover 19 b are made of ceramics. Amaterial forming the first cover 19 a and the second cover 19 b isinsulating ceramics. Use of ceramics having a composition system commonto that of the capacitance forming unit 18 leads to suppression ofinternal stress in the body 11.

The capacitance forming unit 18, the first cover 19 a, and the secondcover 19 b may further contain one or more types of metal elements suchas magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), aluminum (Al), calcium (Ca), vanadium(V), chromium (Cr), zirconium (Zr), molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W),tantalum (Ta), niobium (Nb), silicon (Si), boron (B), yttrium (Y),europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium(Er), ytterbium (Yb), lithium (Li), potassium (K), and sodium (Na),other than barium (Ba) and titanium (Ti), for example.

With the configuration described above, when a voltage is appliedbetween the first external electrode 14 and the second externalelectrode 15 in the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10, the voltage isapplied to the ceramic layers between the first internal electrodes 12and the second internal electrodes 13. With this configuration, themulti-layer ceramic capacitor 10 stores charge corresponding to thevoltage applied between the first external electrode 14 and the secondexternal electrode 15.

It should be noted that the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 accordingto this embodiment only needs to include the capacitance forming unit18, the first cover 19 a, and the second cover 19 b, and otherconfigurations can be changed as appropriate. For example, the number offirst internal electrodes 12 and second internal electrodes 13 can bedetermined as appropriate according to the size and performance expectedfor the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10.

Further, in FIGS. 4 and 5, in order to make the facing state of thefirst and second internal electrodes 12 and 13 easily viewable, thenumber of first internal electrodes 12 and the number of second internalelectrodes 13 are each set to four. However, actually, more first andsecond internal electrodes 12 and 13 are provided so as to ensure thecapacitance of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged schematic view of an area E shown in FIG. 2. Itshould be noted that FIG. 6 omits illustration of the sealing portion120.

The multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 housed in the housing portion 110of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor package 100 has, as shown in FIG.6, a curved shape that is convex upwardly in the Z-axis direction alongthe X-axis direction (longitudinal direction). In other words, as shownin FIG. 6, in the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10, the main surface S1facing in the Z-axis direction is convexly curved along the X-axisdirection, and the main surface S2 on the opposite side of the mainsurface S1 is concavely curved along the X-axis direction.

In particular, in the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 according to thisembodiment, an angle A1 formed by tangent lines L1 that are tangent tothe ends of the main surface S1 in the X-axis direction is desirably setto 170° or more and 176° or less. In other words, an angle A2 formed bya virtual line L2 parallel to the X-axis direction of the multi-layerceramic capacitor 10 and the tangent line L1 is desirably set to 2° ormore and 5° or less.

Here, in the multi-layer ceramic capacitor package 100 according to thisembodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 ishoused in the recess 100 b with the convexly-curved main surface S1facing toward the take-out opening 100 a.

This improves the flexural strength of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor10 against stress applied from the main surface S1 side, although themulti-layer ceramic capacitor 10 has a low-profile configuration inwhich the dimension D2 of the body 11 in the Z-axis direction is 50 μmor less.

Specifically, in the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10, the flexuralstrength is improved by approximately 20% as compared to a multi-layerceramic capacitor with a normal configuration in which the body 11 isnot curved.

Therefore, for example, in an assembling step of a circuit board and thelike, when the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 is taken out through thetake-out opening 100 a with a chip mounter or the like and mounted ontoa substrate or the like, even if strong stress is applied to themulti-layer ceramic capacitor 10 from the main surface S1 side, damageon the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 is suppressed.

In other words, the multi-layer ceramic capacitor package 100 accordingto this embodiment houses the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 such thatthe convexly-curved main surface S1 faces toward the take-out opening100 a, thus obtaining a configuration to house the multi-layer ceramiccapacitor 10 in which both of the reduction in height and the ensuringof the flexural strength are achieved. The direction of the curve of themulti-layer ceramic capacitor 10 can be sorted by, for example, imageprocessing.

3. Method of Producing Multi-layer Ceramic Capacitor 10

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a method of producing the multi-layerceramic capacitor 10. FIGS. 8 and 9 are views each showing a productionprocess of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10. Hereinafter, the methodof producing the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 will be describedalong FIG. 7 with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9 as appropriate.

3.1 Step S01: Preparation of Unsintered Body

In Step S01, an unsintered body 111, which is to be the base of the body11, is prepared. FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the body 111.For the purpose of description, FIG. 8 shows first ceramic layers 101,second ceramic layers 102, a first cover 119 a, and a second cover 119 bin an exploded manner. However, the first and second ceramic layers 101and 102 and the first and second covers 119 a and 119 b are integratedin the actual body 111.

As shown in FIG. 8, the body 111 includes an unsintered capacitanceforming unit 118 corresponding to the capacitance forming unit 18, theunsintered first cover 119 a corresponding to the first cover 19 a, andthe unsintered second cover 119 b corresponding to the second cover 19b. As shown in FIG. 8, the capacitance forming unit 118 has aconfiguration in which the first ceramic layers 101 and the secondceramic layers 102 are alternately laminated in the Z-axis direction.

The first cover 119 a and the second cover 119 b are respectivelylaminated on the upper surface and the lower surface of the capacitanceforming unit 118 in the Z-axis direction. The thickness of each of thefirst ceramic layer 101, the second ceramic layer 102, the first cover119 a, and the second cover 119 b is not particularly limited, but it isdesirably set to 0.5 μm or more and 3.0 μm or less.

Here, in this embodiment, insulating ceramic particles aggregate at ahigher density in one of the covers than in the other cover, out of thefirst cover 119 a and the second cover 119 b that cover the uppersurface and the lower surface of the capacitance forming unit 118 in theZ-axis direction.

It should be noted that in the example shown in FIG. 8, the capacitanceforming unit 118 includes the four first ceramic layers 101 and the foursecond ceramic layers 102, and each of the first cover 119 a and thesecond cover 119 b includes three ceramic layers, but the presentinvention is not limited thereto. The number of first ceramic layers 101and second ceramic layers 102 and the number of ceramic layers formingthe first cover 119 a and the second cover 119 b can be changed asappropriate.

Further, unsintered first internal electrodes 112 corresponding to thefirst internal electrodes 12 are formed on the first ceramic layers 101,and unsintered second internal electrodes 113 corresponding to thesecond internal electrodes 13 are formed on the second ceramic layers102. It should be noted that no unsintered internal electrodes areformed on the first cover 119 a and the second cover 119 b. In the body111, the first internal electrodes 112 are exposed to one of the endsurfaces in the X-axis direction, and the second internal electrodes 113are exposed to the other end surface.

The first and second internal electrodes 112 and 113 can be formed usingan electrical conductive paste containing nickel (Ni), for example. Forformation of the first and second internal electrodes 112 and 113 by useof an electrical conductive paste, a screen printing method or a gravureprinting method can be used, for example.

3.2 Step S02: Sintering

In Step S02, the unsintered body 111 obtained in Step S01 is sintered toproduce the body 11 of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 shown inFIGS. 3 to 5.

In other words, in Step S02, the first internal electrodes 112 and thesecond internal electrodes 113 respectively become the first internalelectrodes 12 and the second internal electrodes 13, the capacitanceforming unit 118 becomes the capacitance forming unit 18, and the firstcover 119 a and the second cover 119 b respectively become the firstcover 19 a and the second cover 19 b.

A sintering temperature for the body 111 in Step S02 can be determinedon the basis of a sintering temperature for the capacitance forming unit118, the first cover 119 a, and the second cover 119 b. For example,when a barium titanate (BaTiO₃) based material is used as ceramics, thesintering temperature for the body 111 can be set to approximately 1,000to 1,400° C. Further, sintering can be performed in a reductionatmosphere or a low-oxygen partial pressure atmosphere, for example.

Here, in the body 111 obtained in Step S01 described above, insulatingceramic particles aggregate at a higher density in one of the coversthan in the other cover, out of the first cover 119 a and the secondcover 119 b that cover the capacitance forming unit 118 in the Z-axisdirection.

This makes a shrink percentage at the time of sintering of theunsintered body 111 different between the first cover 119 a and thesecond cover 119 b. One of the first cover 119 a and the second cover119 b that has a lower density of the ceramic particles shrinks morethan the other cover that has a higher density of the ceramic particles.

Therefore, in Step S02, the unsintered body 111 is sintered, thusobtaining the body 11 with a curved shape along the X-axis direction(longitudinal direction).

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the sintered body 11. The body 11,which is obtained by sintering the body 111 according to thisembodiment, has the main surface S1 convexly curved along the X-axisdirection, and the main surface S2 on the opposite side of the mainsurface S1, which is concavely curved along the X-axis direction, asshown in FIG. 9.

3.3 Step S03: Formation of External Electrodes

In Step S03, the first external electrode 14 and the second externalelectrode 15 are formed on the body 11 obtained in Step S02, to producethe multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 shown in FIGS. 3 to 5.

In Step S03, first, an unsintered electrode material is applied so as tocover one of the end surfaces of the body 11 and then applied so as tocover the other one of the end surfaces of the body 11, the end surfacesbeing oriented in the X-axis direction. The applied unsintered electrodematerials are subjected to baking in a reduction atmosphere or alow-oxygen partial pressure atmosphere, for example, to form base filmson the body 11. On the base films baked onto the body 11, intermediatefilms and surface films are formed by plating such as electrolyticplating. Thus, the first external electrode 14 and the second externalelectrode 15 are completed.

A method of forming the base films on the body 11 is not particularlylimited as long as a thin film can be formed on the body 11 by themethod. For example, sputtering, spray coating, printing, and the likecan be employed.

It should be noted that part of the processing in Step S03 describedabove may be performed before Step S02. For example, before Step S02,the unsintered electrode material may be applied to both the endsurfaces of the unsintered body 111 that are oriented in the X-axisdirection, and in Step S02, the unsintered body 111 may be sintered and,simultaneously, the unsintered electrode material may be baked to formbase films of the first external electrode 14 and the second externalelectrode 15.

3.4 Modified Example

The method of producing the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 is notlimited to the production method described above, and the productionsteps may be changed or added as appropriate.

For example, in the production method described above, the density ofthe insulating ceramics is made different between the first cover 119 aand the second cover 119 b in the unsintered body 111, to generatecurves at the time of sintering of the body 111. However, the presentinvention is not limited to the above method.

Specifically, at the time of sintering of the body 111, the amount ofheat to be transmitted to the first cover 119 a and the second cover 119b may be made different, to generate curves in the body 11.

Alternatively, the content of an additive element, e.g., magnesium (Mg),manganese (Mn), aluminum (Al), calcium (Ca), vanadium (V), chromium(Cr), zirconium (Zr), molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta),niobium (Nb), silicon (Si), boron (B), yttrium (Y), europium (Eu),gadolinium (Gd), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), ytterbium(Yb), lithium (Li), potassium (K), or sodium (Na), which is contained inthe first cover 119 a and the second cover 119 b of the body 111, aparticle diameter of the ceramic particles, and the like may be madedifferent, and the sintering performance may thus be made differentbetween the first cover 119 a and the second cover 119 b, to generatecurves in the body 11. It should be noted that in this embodiment, atleast one of the metal elements exemplified above is selected as theadditive element.

4. Method of Producing Multi-layer Ceramic Capacitor Package 100

Next, a method of producing the multi-layer ceramic capacitor package100 according to this embodiment will be described.

First, the housing portion 110 including the plurality of recesses 100 beach including the take-out opening 100 a is prepared. The plurality ofrecesses 100 b can be formed by performing air-pressure forming, pressforming, vacuum forming, or the like on a predetermined base material.

Next, the plurality of multi-layer ceramic capacitors 10 produced by theproduction method described above are prepared. Those multi-layerceramic capacitors 10 are then housed individually in the plurality ofrecesses 100 b such that the convexly-curved main surfaces S1 face tothe respective take-out openings 100 a.

Incidentally, the sintered body 11 has a shape curved along thelongitudinal direction as shown in FIG. 9. One of the causes leading tosuch a shape resides in that the first cover 119 a and the second cover119 b of the unsintered body 111 has different sintering performance.

Therefore, in the sintered body 11, the main surface S1 and the mainsurface S2 have different colors in some cases. Here, in thisembodiment, the difference in color in the body 11 may be used as anindex with which the main surface S1 and the main surface S2 aredistinguished from each other. This enables the convexly-curved mainsurface S1 and the concavely-curved main surface S2 of the multi-layerceramic capacitor 10 to be easily distinguished from each other.

Subsequently, the sealing portion 120 is attached to the housing portion110, to seal the plurality of recesses 100 b individually housing theplurality of multi-layer ceramic capacitors 10. This provides themulti-layer ceramic capacitor package 100 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In this embodiment, when the multi-layer ceramic capacitor package 100is produced by the production method described above, each multi-layerceramic capacitor 10 is housed in this package 100 with the convex mainsurface S1 facing toward the take-out opening 100 a. This can providethe action and effect described above.

5. Examples

Hereinafter, Examples of the present invention will be described.

5.1 Preparation of Multi-layer Ceramic Capacitor

Samples of multi-layer ceramic capacitors according to Example 1 andComparative Example 2 were produced by the production method describedabove. Further, a sample of a multi-layer ceramic capacitor according toComparative Example 1 was prepared.

The samples according to Example 1 and Comparative Example 2 have ashape in which the body 11 is curved along the longitudinal direction(see FIG. 9). The sample according to Comparative Example 1 is amulti-layer ceramic capacitor with a normal configuration in which thebody is not curved. The sample according to Comparative Example 1 has acommon configuration with the samples according to Example 1 andComparative Example 2 except that the body is not curved.

5.2 Calculation of Flexural Strength

Next, flexural strength was calculated for the samples of themulti-layer ceramic capacitors according to Example 1 and ComparativeExamples 1 and 2. FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a measurement apparatus200 for calculating flexural strength of the samples according toExample 1 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2.

As shown in FIG. 10, the measurement apparatus 200 includes a base D anda pusher J. The base D includes a recess C. A dimension D3 of the recessC in the X-axis direction is 0.6 times as large as a dimension D4 ofeach sample in the X-axis direction. Further, a radius R of the fulcrumof the pusher J is 500 μm.

Example 1

First, as shown in FIG. 10, the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 wasplaced on the base D such that the recess C was disposed at the centerof the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 in the X-axis direction. At thattime, in Example 1, as shown in FIG. 10, the multi-layer ceramiccapacitor 10 was placed such that the convexly-curved main surface S1faced the pusher J along the Z-axis direction, and the concavely-curvedmain surface S2 faced the recess C along the Z-axis direction.

Next, the pusher J was moved in the Z-axis direction and caused to abutagainst the main surface S1. Subsequently, the pusher J was caused topush the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 at a loading rate of 10mm/min, and the maximum load to the breaking of the multi-layer ceramiccapacitor 10 was measured. The flexural strength of the multi-layerceramic capacitor 10 according to Example 1 was then calculated on thebasis of the maximum load.

Comparative Example 1

The flexural strength of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor according toComparative Example 1 was calculated by the approach similar to Example1.

Comparative Example 2

In Comparative Example 2, the flexural strength of the multi-layerceramic capacitor according to Comparative Example 2 was calculated bythe approach similar to Example 1 except the following point.

A difference from Example 1 is that, in Comparative Example 2, themulti-layer ceramic capacitor was placed on the base D such that theconvexly-curved main surface S1 faced the recess C along the Z-axisdirection, and the concavely-curved main surface S2 faced the pusher Jalong the Z-axis direction.

5.3 Calculation Results

FIG. 11 is a graph of the flexural strength of the samples of themulti-layer ceramic capacitors according to Example 1 and ComparativeExamples 1 and 2. It should be noted that a “flexural strength ratio”shown in FIG. 11 refers to a standardized value with “1” being set forthe flexural strength of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor according toComparative Example 1.

Referring to FIG. 11, it was confirmed that the flexural strength of thesample according to Example 1 is larger than the flexural strength ofthe samples according to Comparative Examples 1 and 2.

From those results, it was experimentally confirmed that when themulti-layer ceramic capacitor package 100 according to the embodimentdescribed above houses the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 such thatthe convexly-curved main surface S1 faces toward the take-out opening100 a, the flexural strength against the stress applied from the mainsurface S1 side of the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 is improved.

6. Other Embodiments

While the embodiment of the present invention has been describedhereinabove, the present invention is not limited to the embodimentdescribed above, and it should be appreciated that the present inventionmay be variously modified.

For example, in the multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10, the capacitanceforming unit 18 may be divided into capacitance forming units in theZ-axis direction. In this case, in each capacitance forming unit 18, thefirst internal electrodes 12 and the second internal electrodes 13 onlyneed to be alternately disposed along the Z-axis direction. In a portionwhere the capacitance forming units 18 are next to each other, the firstinternal electrodes 12 or the second internal electrodes 13 may becontinuously disposed.

Further, in the embodiment described above, the multi-layer ceramiccapacitor has been described as an example of a multi-layer ceramicelectronic component, but the present invention can also be applied to achip varistor, a chip thermistor, a multi-layer inductor, or the like.

Furthermore, the electronic component of the electronic componentpackage according to the present invention may be a ceramic electroniccomponent including no multi-layer structure. In addition, theelectronic component of the electronic component package according tothe present invention may be an electronic component made of a materialother than ceramics, such as an alloy or resin. Those configurations canalso provide the action and effect similar to that described above.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic component package, comprising: anelectronic component that includes a body, the body having a first mainsurface that is convexly curved along a longitudinal direction, and asecond main surface that is concavely curved along the longitudinaldirection, a distance between the first main surface and the second mainsurface being 50 μm or less; a housing portion that includes a pluralityof recesses, each of the recesses including a take-out opening andhousing the electronic component with the first main surface facingtoward the take-out opening; and a sealing portion that covers thetake-out openings of the plurality of recesses.
 2. The electroniccomponent package according to claim 1, wherein the electronic componentincludes a ceramic electronic component.
 3. The electronic componentpackage according to claim 2, wherein the ceramic electronic componentincludes a multi-layer ceramic electronic component that is made ofinsulating ceramics and includes a first cover and a second cover, thefirst cover forming the first main surface, the second cover forming thesecond main surface.
 4. The electronic component package according toclaim 3, wherein an angle formed by tangent lines that are tangent toends of the first main surface in the longitudinal direction is 170° ormore and 176° or less.
 5. The electronic component package according toclaim 3, wherein the first cover and the second cover are different fromeach other in particle density of the insulating ceramics.
 6. Theelectronic component package according to claim 3, wherein the firstcover and the second cover are different from each other in particlediameter of the insulating ceramics.
 7. The electronic component packageaccording to claim 3, wherein the first cover and the second cover aredifferent from each other in content of an additive element therein. 8.The electronic component package according to claim 7, wherein theadditive element is at least one element selected from magnesium,manganese, aluminum, calcium, vanadium, chromium, zirconium, molybdenum,tungsten, tantalum, niobium, silicon, boron, yttrium, europium,gadolinium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, ytterbium, lithium, potassium,and sodium.
 9. The electronic component package according to claim 1,wherein the housing portion includes a carrier tape, and the sealingportion includes a cover tape.
 10. A method of housing an electroniccomponent, comprising: preparing a housing portion that includes aplurality of recesses, each of the recesses including a take-outopening; preparing a plurality of electronic components, each of theelectronic components including a body having a first main surfaceconvexly curved along a longitudinal direction and a second main surfaceconcavely curved along the longitudinal direction, a distance betweenthe first main surface and the second main surface being 50 μm or less;and housing the plurality of electronic components individually in theplurality of recesses such that each first main surface faces toward thetake-out opening corresponding thereto.